Mail-bag-receiving apparatus.



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Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

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M. N. GEORGE.

MAIL BAG RECEIVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED THE. 6, 1912.

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Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

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APPLICATION FILED PEBJE, 1912.

MAIL BAG RECEIVING APPARATUS.

COLUMBIA PLANOUIAPII COHWASNINGTON. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

MARION 1\T. GEORGE, OF IRONDALE, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE MAIL DEVICE COMPANY, INC., OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA.

MAIL-BAG-RECEIVING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8,1912.

Original application filed November 10, 1911, Serial No. 659,7 53. Divided and this application filed February To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARION N. Gnonon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Irondale, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag- Receiving Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to mail bag receiving apparatus, and has for its purpose to provide an arrangement for receiving and securely holding one or more mail pouches from a moving train; and wherein the construction is simple, and will be positive and accurate of operation when in use.

The invention is especially adapted for cooperation with the type of mail bag delivering apparatus disclosed in my co-pending application for U. S. Patent, Serial No. 659,753 and dated November 10, 1911, and of which application the present one forms a division.

lVith these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views :F igure 1 discloses in side elevation the complete apparatus in operative posi tion; and Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof.

Referring to the disclosure in detail 1 designates the side of the car having an opening or doorway 2 within which the mail bag receiving and delivering apparatus are located. The receiving apparatus consists in the pivotally mounted arm 3 adapted to engage a mail pouch A to remove the same from the arms land 5 of the crane 6 lo cated at the station. Said crane in its construction and manner of operation is substantially that disclosed in my two Patents Nos. 948,217 dated February 1, 1910 and 964,231 dated July 12, 1910 and need not, therefore, be described in further detail here.

The mail bag delivering apparatus, which is carried by the car, consists of a rectangular frame journaled in the bearings 7, on the sill 8 of the ear floor. Said frame is constructed of tubular metal of any appropriate kind, and has the inner and outer ends 9 and 10 thereof in parallel relation. 6 The ends 11 of the member 10 provide the pivotal elements for swinging the frame. The frame sides 12, uniting the end members 9 and 10, are slightly curved (see Fig. 1) whereby to provide a clearance X for 6 a purpose to be presently explained.

The pouch supporting frame is designed to be moved inwardly and outwardly of the car, and to effect which there is provided a lever 13 fulcrumed at let to the floor 7 of the car and connected with the frame through the medium of a link or bar 15 which is attached to a cross bar 16 of the frame. When the frame is moved inwardly it has substantially that position indicated 7 by dash lines in Fig. 1, and wherein the outer edge of the end bar 9 is designed to lie substantially flush with the side of the car, and in this position the frame may be held by any appropriate means. A chain 8 17 passes through the opening 18 of the frame bar 9, and has the two free ends thereof secured, as at 19, to the side of the car, and has for its purpose to limit the outward swing of said frame as well ,as to 8 provide a supporting member therefor. The pouch holding frame is designed to support a plurality of mail sacks B for delivering the same to the station at one time, and to this end the end members 9 and 10 of the 9 frame are eachprovided with a number of collars or spacing devices 20 forming between them recesses within which clips 21 may beheld for securing the ends of the bag, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The apparatus described in the foregoing forms the basis of a separate application, and is given herein only in so far as will make clear the principle of operation of the mail bag receiving apparatus, disclosed of bolts 26 secured to said bolster and fitting i within a slot 27 formed in the lower end of said post. The post 22 is provided with a pair of cross arms 28 and 29, of which the former is straight and the members of the latter are turned upwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 2, the purpose whereof being to provide a means to retain a number of mail bags and prevent their being readily displaced, as will. be understood. when the post 22 is in position to receive the bags, the cross arms 28 and 29 thereof are located to receive the mail bags which are released through coming into engagement with said post, and by reason of the clearance X, provided by the curved sides 12 of the frame, said frame readily clears the mail catcher and at the same time positively insures the removal of the bags from the delivering device.

It is proposed that the post 22 be automatically set to position through the medium of the crane, and to this end a cable or chain 30 connects the lower arm 5 of the frame with the post 22 for which purpose the bolster 23 thereof has a downwardly extending member or lug 31 to which one end of the cable 30 is secured. A pair of guiding rollers 30 and 30* are provided for said cable, the former of which is journaled in any appropriate manner on the rail ties and the latter mounted on the crane arm 6. A bracket or yoke 32 is secured to the rail ties adjacent the bearings 25 and is located to provide a limit or stop for the post 22 when the latter is moved into operative position; and a similar but smaller bracket 33 is provided for engaging with said post to support the same in its inoperative position.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that the raising of the crane arm 5 to hold the bag A for delivering to the passing train, will operate through the cable 30 to throw the arm 22 into position to receive the bag or bags from said moving train, and that with the falling of the arm 5 through the release of the bag A said cable 30 will slacken and the arm 22 holding the bag B will fall into substantially that position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 1.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is 1. In a mail bag catching apparatus, the combination of a support; a fulcrumed bolster on which said support is mounted; a pair of straight arms secured to the upper end of said support; a pair of upwardly disposed arms secured to said support beneath said straight arms and providing means for holding mail bags; and means secured to said bolster for moving said support to operative position, substantially as described.

2. In a mail bag catching apparatus, the combination of a vertically disposed support; a fulcrumed bolster on which said support is adjustably mounted; a pair of straight arms secured to the upper end of said support; a pair of upwardly disposed arms secured to the support beneath said straight arms and providing therewith means for holding mail bags; means for limiting the swinging movements of said support; and automatically actuated means for efiecting the movement of said support to operative and inoperative position, subtially as described.

3. In a mail bag catching apparatus, the

combination of a vertically disposed support; a fulcrumed bolster on which said support is adjustably mounted; a pair of straight arms secured to the upper end of H said support; a pair of upwardly disposed arms secured to the support beneath said straight arms and providing therewith means for holding mail bags; a vertically disposed yoke located on each side of said support and adapted to engage therewith and determine the extent of swinging movement of sa1d support; and means for eifectmg the swinging movement of sa1d support comprising, a swinging arm and a connection between said swinglng arm and the bolster of said support, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

G. R. HARsH, C. P. BEDDow.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

MARION N. GEORGE. H 

